Can I legally haul more than my OEM weight sticker says?

Yes. Here is the quote direct from ND DOT web site:



Can a vehicle legally carry 46,000 lbs if the manufacturer's plate shows a GVWR of 37,000 lbs?

Yes, the vehicle manufacturer plate shows the GVWR as manufactured. It is possible the axles on the vehicle were upgraded at some point after manufacture or some other change affecting the vehicle's GVWR occurred after manufacture.



MP

 

In a simple answer, no.

 

Oh boy... here we go...

 

Melvin,

You're trying to compare apples and eggs. Only a ten wheel tandem rear axle big box truck could get into those weights.

The key words to consider are carry (haul) or tow (pull) and vehicle weights vs. combined weights.

Looking at the issue from the ordinary viewpoint of a Ram truck owner, yes, our trucks can pull but maybe not carry far more than the posted weight on the VIN tag on the door post. I say maybe because some DOT officers will consider the truck's GVWR tag, some will only consider tires.

All three of my Dodge Rams, all duallies, an '01, an '06, and my current '08 have been registered in Texas for 26,000 lbs. I have had roadside DOT inspections many times on the previous two Rams and been across at least 100 scales all loaded, pulling heavy trailers, with weights up to 26,000 lbs.

It is perfectly legal to tow gross combined weights up to 26k with an operator's license, well beyond 26k with a CDL Class A, with a dually pickup assuming proper registration.

It is not legal to exceed tire weight ratings. It is scale weights and tire size that DOT enforcement officers look at to determine what is legal. They have no way to estimate what axle is under a truck but they know that ordinary 22. 5" big truck tires are rated at 5k lbs. per tire and our Ram dually tires are rated at approximately 3k per tire.

Our Ram pickups can legally tow 40,000 lbs. gross combined but it is not legal to load the truck itself at 20k lbs.

 

Simple answer: YES!



Personal monstor RV Fifth Wheel - Easy as pie! RV's seem excempt from almost everything.

Farmer - Easy as most states excempt farmers from all the rules within 100-150 miles of home.

Commercial Hauler - very do able with proper registration, license, insurance, etc...

 

Ya think, well just don't go over axle ratings, forget the tire rating unless its less than the axle, and be registered for your weight and proper license for what weight your hauling. DOT will ticket you faster than you can say "I read on TDR, I can (fill in the blank)" :-laf

 

Does an old heavily used flat bed gooseneck trailer have a nifty little VIN decal like our Dodges with axle ratings? Of course not.

Have you ever read the Federal DOT handbook? They deal with tire ratings and calculate axle ratings based on tire capacity ratings.

 

Uh huh

Try explaining to a lawyer in a court room that you made it better than Dodge.

This is of course you blew a red light at the bottom of a hill and killed someone, so it's the fight of your life.

No thanks.

That's why I answered the question the way I did.

Carry on... .

 

What does explaining anything to a lawyer in a court room have to do with legal weight limits and hauling?

Perry Mason is not arguing cases in court any longer.

 

Why does everyone think you will go to Court if you are over weight and involved in an accident? If you are found at fault, weather it is from speeding, running a red light, reckless driving, falling asleep, following too close, or anything else, your insurance will have to pay the other driver - because you are at fault. Most lawyers will not waste there time on privet citizens, just too hard to get big money from them.

 

Yep! I agree.

 

How 'bout if we all go fix us a tall glass of ice water and chill out before the moderator has to jump in and hurt some feelings.

 

"Can I legally haul more than my OEM weight sticker says?"



Yes, as long as you license it for more.



The state can also make you license your rig for more GVW if you have the capacity but license it for less.



A good friend of mine built a super nice tandem axle dually trailer and licensed the combo (truck and trailer for 26,000). He did this to stay under the 26,000 and avoid all the extra B/S that goes with being over 26,000.



He was stopped by an AZ. DOT and was instructed to license the trailer for 10,001 and the truck for 28,800 (Dodge 2500, 8800 GVW). He got mad and cut one axle off the trailer. What a waste of a nice trailer.



I am currently licensed for 16,000 truck (Dodge 2500) and 10,000 trailer (two axle singles, GVW tag is 14,000). AZ, DOT made me license the truck for that much to cover an over-width permit load. Since the permit was Commercial in nature, the truck license had to cover the loaded weight of truck, trailer and permit load. They say I am good for a normal non-overwidth 26,000 combo, however I think they could force me to license the trailer for 14,000. Then I would have to buy 26,000 for the truck and license the trailer for 10,001. Super expensive in AZ.



Nick

 

Regardless of what the law says it can often be interpreted multiple ways, from my experience its scary the wide range of interpretation there is from one law enforcement to officer to another, so I would be very clear on what the law says, maybe have a lawyer check it if you know one, there is a always a chance even if you are legal that the law enforcement officer will see it different and you will have to defend your position in court. Just my . 02$

 

What to I know......

I'm sorry I didn't realize I was among a substantial pool of over qualified professional drivers.

MY 15 + yrs as an class 8 owner operator and 1 million miles (probably more) is an embarrassment against you guys. I hang my head in shame.





I used a hypothetical accident as an example. If there was a death involved and you were excessively overloaded, I could bet the farm you'd go to court over it.

You guys just load up, I'm out classed here.

It's all good, there aint such things as cops and lawyers.

 

Melvin Pierce: Remember, ND is only one state and once you cross that state line, the rules change.

The Patriot: Simple answer, yes (No) is the simple answer. So, why does this keep coming up?

H. Barlow and Bob V. : It very well may end up in court, if there is serious injury or death involved and Lawyers will get involved then. Why? Because even though private citizens don't have deep pockets, insurance companies do.

All the rest: Think of it this way... . How much can you (personally) carry or pull up a hill in your little red wagon? Not talking about your truck. Now if someone adds 100 pounds to that weight, can you still do it without breaking something or having a heart attack? As much as I love and respect my Dodge and it's abilities, it can break and/or have a heart failure also. So... ... the truly simple answer is..... THINK!

________________________________________________________________________

86 / 92 Retrofitted Cummins w/auto 2WD 255,000 miles - 96 Ram 1500 short bed 318 w/auto 4WD 320,000 miles - 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4. 0 w/auto 4WD 200,000 miles

 

I know we must have a Judge, a Lawyer and a DOT officer out there among us TDR's. So How about we hear from you guys. Maybe you can shed some meaningful light on this subject.
___________________________________________________________________________
86 / 92 Retrofitted Cummins w/auto 2WD 246,000 miles - 96 Ram 1500 short bed 318 w/auto 4WD 307,000 miles - 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4. 0 w/auto 4WD 160,000 miles

 

It keeps coming up for 2 reasons.

1 The search function isnt used.

2 Were overrun with SME's. :-laf



This is an Amsoil thread in disguise.

 

Not a TDR member, but a member of RV.net wrote;



"I am a retired state police commander. I commanded a district which had the highest fine producing fixed scales in the state. In additiona I was one of 2 of the first Troops in the state to be certified as motor carrier safety inspectors. By IL statute only the ISP has the authority to conduct MCS inspections. I taught truck weight and MCS law at our academy. Over the years I weighed a lot of trucks. I also weighed a lot of RVs of various styles, not because of the law but because the RVers asked to be weighed to have their loading checked. Never ever saw any of them even come close to approaching max legal weights.

Simple answer to your question. The sticker on your truck is placed there by the manufacturer. It's like the tag on your mattress. It's required by law to tell the consumer what is in that product. After sales that sticker doesn't have to remain on the vehicle and there are a lot of vehicles legally on the road today which no longer has the sticker because of body repair, etc. The manufacturers do not make the laws. Think about this too. Do you think every Troop or weigh master out there has memorized what all the manufacturers stickers say on every style of truck made? Then toss into the mix 4X4 v 4X2, same model trucks but with different engines, same model trucks but with different axle ratings, or same model trucks but just different years. We don't care what the sticker says or even if there is a sticker. What the manufacturers put on that sticker is not law, it's just a to let the consumer know what that particular vehicle's design specs are.

The max weight laws are generally 20K on a single axle, 34K on a tandum axle and gross is 80K. These are federally mandated limits. I say "generally" because gross depends on the bridge length of your vehicle (distance between the front and rear axle) and the number of axles. The 34K can also vary depending the distance between the tandum axles. It could be more. Weight limits may also be posted less than the max on certain roads.

As an RVer you don't have to worry about exceeding the 20K single axle, 34K tandum axle, and 80K gross. There's no way you are going to be anywhere close to any of those numbers. Think about it. On your 5er you put 16" E range tires on a 5K or 6K rated axle. Your suspension and tires wouldn't handle 20K or 34K loads. And no way are you getting anywhere close to 20K on the steer or drive axle on your pickup. Your Big Country doesn't even come close to approaching 34K on the tandums. Your entire rig is likely to be about 20K total. You could not load your 5er and 2500 with enough toys to get close to exceeding the weight limits. "



I happen to have an old gooseneck deckover flatbed that I bought from an old farmer. The VIN tag was long gone. Since he was a farmer, it had never been registered and he still had the original Certificate of Manufacture. I used it to register it for the GVWR of 14,000 pounds. I could have registered it for more, but 14,000 seemed appropriate at the time. It has two 7000 pound axles under it, but there are no "tags" on the axles that an inspector could look at, I found out what they were when buying brakes and backing plates. I put the required lights on it and pulled it loaded from TX to VA then MA to WA and then loaded it again and came back to TX. Never had a problem with DOT and it is one ugly trailer.

 

Now that I have removed the male bovine fecal material, lets get back to the original question presented buy the thread poster... ... ... ... ... I run 19. 5 load range G tires and wheels, so I am interested in the answer.

Barry/Moderator